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UK landlord Segro expands data centre drive to ride AI boom
British 'warehouse owner'?Segro has expanded its efforts into data centres. It is lining up new sites in France and Germany as well as in Italy and Poland to take advantage of the global boom in artificial-intelligence spending. David Sleath, in an interview on Thursday, said: "We think that there will be a very strong demand in the future in and around other large cities." We are working to secure planning permissions on some of these sites and power. Segro, which has around 10.9m square metres of space to its name, is betting that the?demand for AI-based data centres will continue to grow despite concerns from industry about power supply constraints. Power Supplies Sleath stated that the group is well-positioned in terms of its ability to provide power for its sites located in London and Slough (west of the capital), where it has upgraded 400 megawatts. Segro signed a contract for a data centre of 30,000 square metres in Slough during the first quarter. The company also won approval from planning authorities for a 56-megawatt data center in West London, worth $1.35 billion. Amazon and other technology companies have been slowed down by long electricity queues in Europe, causing them to delay or cancel their data center expansion plans. Sleath claimed that some developers built speculatively, without pre-let agreement, leaving them vulnerable to planning changes. He said that "we are very clear that we will not do that". Segro would only commit to capital after it had secured a prelease with a hyperscaler. Last year, data centre operators made up about 7% of Segro's clients. Transport & logistics, retail, and food manufacturing make up the majority of their clientele.
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Italy will see revenue from the sale of state assets worth 0.8% GDP by 2028
A government document published on Thursday showed that Italy expects to earn a revenue of?0.8% or?19.21 billion euros from the sale of state assets through 2028. Sources familiar with Rome's thinking on the issue said that Rome is considering options such as selling stakes in the air traffic controller ENAV and the bailed-out bank Monte dei Paschi di Siena. In its multi-year plan (DFP), the Treasury stated that asset sales of 0.2 percentage points will be factored into projections for debt-to GDP ratios this year. This figure is expected to rise to 0.5 percentage points in 2027, and 0.1 percent in 2028. The International Monetary Fund predicts that Italy's debt will rise from 137.1% to 138.6% of GDP by 2026. This is above the 138.4% forecast. The?DFP project Italy's debt to remain almost stable at 138.5% by 2027 before falling to 137.9% by 2028, and then to 136.3% in the following year. Giorgia Melons, the Prime Minister of Italy, announced that the government would be able to raise 20 billion Euros from the sale of assets in order to "keep the debt under control" after she assumed office at the end 2022. Rome, however, has gradually scaled back its plans since then. The previous budget plan, unveiled in Septembre, did not contain official targets. Italy has collected just over 4 billion Euros under Meloni by selling 52.5% MPS and 2.8% Eni via share placements. WINDOW DRESSENESSING? The DFP, published on Thursday, anticipates that asset sales will generate almost 5 billion euro this year, and 12 billion more in 2027 - the year of the scheduled general election. However, it does not provide any guidance as to the types of assets expected to be sold. In recent years, Italy's independent auditor court said that selling off plans could be "window dressing" to paint a more favourable budget picture. Meloni told Bloomberg in February in an interview that Rome's involvement in MPS was?over,' raising the prospect of a possible sale of the remaining 4,9% stake of the state, worth 1,36 billion euros based on Thursday's prices. Sources said that Rome would have to issue a decree to allow the sale of an ENAV stake, since current legislation requires the Treasury to'maintain a minimum of 51% in the company. Sources say that, in relation to Eni and the Treasury, investment bankers suggested that Italy sell its 2.17% stake directly to pocket 1.5 billion euros. Sources said that under such a scheme Italy would retain complete?control over Eni via the indirect stake of 30.92% held by the state lender Cassa Depositi e Prestiti. The government also took steps to return BDM to private ownership, a small banking institution that was rescued by the government in multiple steps since 2010.
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US Senators demand an investigation into FAA Administrator Stock Sale
Three Democratic U.S. Senators asked a federal watchdog to investigate if the head of 'the Federal Aviation Administration' violated his ethics agreement after he left his position as CEO of Republic Airways. On Thursday, Senators Maria Cantwell and Tammy?Duckworth asked if FAA Administrator Bryan Bedford had misled Congress?in his explanation of why he failed to divest?his substantial equity stake in?Republic before?October 7 - the date set in his ethics agreement. Senators claimed that "Beford deliberately held onto his shares until his airline completed a lucrative merger, likely boosting his holdings' value significantly." Bedford completed his divestiture by February. The FAA said it would directly respond to senators. Bedford held stock in Republic valued between $6 and $30 million at the time of his confirmation. On?November 25th, Republic completed a merger with Mesa Air Group. Reporting by David Shepardson, Editing by Chizu nomiyama
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Chernihiv wins Ukrainian Cup semi-finals without firing a shot at the opponent's goal
FC Chernihiv, of Ukraine's second-tier league, reached the final of the Ukrainian Cup after beating Metalist 1925 on penalties following a goalless semi-final on Wednesday. Chernihiv was reduced to 10 men when defender Pavlo Shusko was sent off after only five minutes. Metalist, who had 31 shots, including 13 on goal, was able to score once, but it was disallowed for offside. Maksym?Tatarenko led Chernihiv?to a?6-5 victory in the penalty shootout and brought the club into the Ukrainian Cup finals for the first ever. Chernihiv also defeated Mariupol after their quarter-final match ended in a goalless draw. The Ukrainian Football Association (?FA) overturned the results to give Chernihiv the 3-0 victory. This was because Kryvbas had fielded more than seven foreign players simultaneously, which violated a tournament rule. Chernihiv is set to face 13-time champions Dynamo Kyiv on 20 May. (Reporting by Chiranjit Ojha in Bengaluru, editing by Pritha Sarkar)
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Panama Canal says $1 million-plus auction slots reflect temporary surge in demand
The Panama Canal Authority announced on Thursday that some ships paid over $1 million at an auction for crossing slots, but the high prices were due to a temporary increase in demand rather than a persistent congestion of 'the waterway. After the Middle East conflict began, the authority reported that the average auction price had increased to $385,000, up from $135,000-$140,000. This was due to the increase in traffic, which boosted the demand for reservations. Last week, the authority downplayed reports stating that a LPG vessel paid up to $4 million in an auction for faster passage. Victor Vial is the vice president of finance at the canal. He said in a press release that certain vessels have paid over $1 million during recent auctions. However, he described these results as exceptional, and linked to a temporary rise in demand. He said that many ships pre-book their transits, avoiding queues. The canal offers a variety of booking methods, including long-term slot allocations as well as a system specifically designed for LNG vessels. It also offers auctions and last-minute bookings for ships who do not make reservations in advance. Between three and five slots are currently available each day. The Canal Administrator Ricaurte Vazquez stated that container and liquefied gas shipments were among the best-performing segments, with energy products playing a larger role in the volumes handled by this waterway. EL NINO RISK The authority said that it had also 'taken steps to preserve the water levels in its retention lakes, as 'it monitors a?risk of an El Nino potentially strong later this year. Ilya Espino de Marotta, the deputy administrator of the Canal Authority said that unusual rainfall in 'the dry season' kept Gatun Lake and Alhajuela Lake at their maximum levels. This allowed for the canal to accumulate reserves. She explained that they were continuing to monitor 'the situation' and that their goal was to maintain the lake levels at the highest possible level before the next dry period. The canal has cut its daily crossings in the past due to drought. (Reporting and editing by Aida Pelaez-Fernandez; Elida Moreno)
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Airline cancels flights due to Middle East conflict
The global air travel industry is still severely affected by the Iran War. Many people are unable to fly to their destinations as planned after major Middle Eastern hubs such as Dubai, Doha and Abu Dhabi were closed. The latest flight information is listed below alphabetically: AEGEAN AIRLINES The largest airline in Greece will resume its flights to Tel Aviv on April 28 from Athens, Heraklion and Rhodes. Thessaloniki-Tel Aviv flights are cancelled until June 26. Riyadh will resume its flights on June 21. The flights to Beirut will be cancelled until June 26. Flights to Dubai until June 29. Erbil and Baghdad are not scheduled to fly until July 2. AIRBALTIC AirBaltic, a Latvian airline, has announced that flights to Tel Aviv are cancelled until May 31, 2019. Dubai flights are canceled until October 24. AIR CANADA The Canadian carrier has canceled flights to Tel Aviv, Dubai and Abu Dhabi until September 7. AIR EUROPA Spanish Airlines has cancelled all flights to Tel Aviv till May 31. AIR FRANCE-KLM Air France has suspended Tel Aviv flights to Beirut, Dubai, and Riyadh until May 3. KLM suspends flights to Riyadh and Dubai until the 14th of June. CATHAY PACIFIC Hong Kong Airlines has suspended its flights to Dubai, Riyadh and cargo freighter service to Dubai, Riyadh and Dubai until May 31, and will resume them on June 30. In April, the airline will add extra passenger flights to London Paris and Zurich to meet the surge in demand for travel to Europe. It intends to continue operating all scheduled flights after June. The U.S. carrier cancelled flights between New York and Tel Aviv, and has delayed the start of its Atlanta to Tel Aviv route till September 5. The airline said that the launch of Boston-Tel Aviv, which was originally scheduled for late October, had been postponed until further notice. EL AL ISRAEL AIRLINES From April 27, the Israeli carrier will be operating flights to around 40 active gateways. All flights to Dubai have been cancelled until May 31, 2019. EMIRATES The UAE airline announced that it will be operating a reduced schedule and flying to over 100 destinations. ETIHAD AERWAYS The UAE carrier has announced that it operates a commercial flight schedule from Abu Dhabi to around 80 destinations. FINNAIR The Finnish airline has cancelled all Doha flights until July 2 and continues to avoid the airspaces of Iraq, Iran Syria, and Israel. The airline will only resume its Dubai flights by October. British Airways, owned by IAG, will reduce flights to the Middle East once?services are resumed. Jeddah is no longer a destination and it will be permanently dropped. Plans to reduce service to Dubai, Doha, and Tel Aviv from two daily flights to one daily flight by July? Riyadh service will be reduced from two to one daily flight from mid-May. The changes will apply until the end of the summer season on October 24. One Dubai service will restart on October 16. Iberia Express, the Spanish low-cost carrier of IAG, has cancelled all flights to Tel Aviv until May 31. JAPAN AIRLINES Japan Airlines suspends scheduled Doha-Tokyo and Tokyo-Doha flight schedules until June 1. Japan Airlines will operate additional flights between Tokyo, London and Doha on April 25. The Polish airline has suspended flights to Tel Aviv till May 31. The airline also cancelled flights from March 31 through May 30 to Beirut and Riyadh. The airline will operate its winter route to Dubai in October. LUFTHANSA GROUP Lufthansa and other airlines, including Swiss, Austrian Airlines and Brussels Airlines, have suspended flights from Dubai and Tel Aviv to Dubai until May 31. Flights to Abu Dhabi and Amman, Beirut Dammam, Riyadh Erbil Muscat Tehran, Riyadh Erbil, Brussels Airlines, Swiss, Austrian Airlines, and Edelweiss have been suspended until May 31. Eurowings, a low-cost airline, has suspended its flights to Tel Aviv and Erbil through May 14, and to Dubai and Abu Dhabi until October 24. ITA Airways has extended the suspension of flights from Tel Aviv, Riyadh, and Dubai to May 31. MALAYSIA AIRLINES Malaysian Airlines has suspended all flights to Doha until June 14 NORWEGIAN AIR The low-cost carrier has delayed the launch of its Tel Aviv & Beirut services until June 15 PEGASUS Pegasus Airlines, Turkey's national airline, has cancelled all flights to Iran, Iraq, Amman Beirut, Kuwait Bahrain Doha Dammam Riyadh Dubai Abu Dhabi Sharjah and Abu Dhabi until June 1. QANTAS Australia's flag-carrier is increasing flights to Rome, Paris and other European destinations to meet a surge in demand. The number of flights to Paris will rise from three to five per week, and the Perth to Singapore service will go from daily to ten flights per a week. A new schedule will be implemented gradually for flights starting in mid-April. It will run through late July. QATAR AIRWAYS From April 23, the carrier will resume daily flights from Damascus to Dubai, Sharjah and Abu Dhabi. ROYAL MAROC Moroccan airline said that flights to Doha were cancelled until June 30, and those to Dubai till May 31. SINGAPORE Airlines In response to increased demand, the carrier has extended the suspension of its Singapore-Dubai flights until May 31. It also added services on Singapore-London Gatwick?and Singapore - Melbourne routes from late march until October 24. TURKISH AIRLINES SunExpress, Turkish Airlines joint venture with Lufthansa has cancelled flights from Dubai to April 30. WIZZ AIR Low-cost carrier suspends flights from Europe to Amman, Dubai and Abu Dhabi until mid-September. All flights to Medina are suspended indefinitely. (Compiled by Josephine Mason and Jamie Freed. Elviira Loma, Tiago Branao, Agnieszka Olenka, Bernadette HOG, Boleslaw LaSocki, Romolo Tosiani. Sumana Nady, Joe Bavier Mark Potter Milla Nissi -Prussak, Susan Fenton and Susan Fenton edited the book.
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Portugal asks Air France KLM and Lufthansa for binding bids to compete in the tight race for TAP
Portugal's government asked Air France-KLM and Germany's Lufthansa on Thursday to submit binding offers?for a minor stake in flag carrier TAP. This set up a 'tight competition' between the two European airline groups after the initial, closely matched bids, which were the only ones it received. Portugal revived TAP’s long-delayed Privatisation in July. It aimed to sell a 44.9 percent stake to a strategic partner to improve the carrier’s global network and competetiveness. A further 5% was reserved for employees. By the end April, the government will issue formal invitations to the two airlines. They will then have until the end July to submit binding bids. Privatization should be completed by the beginning of September. Air France-KLM, Lufthansa and Lufthansa made non-binding bids earlier this month. Details were not revealed. Infrastructure Minister Miguel Pinto Luz stated that the two bids are "largely equal and very ambitious" from a strategic, industrial, and financial perspective, and the government is comfortable with its valuation. The financial valuation of TAP could end up being a decisive factor. "We will wait for binding offers," said Pinto Luz at a press conference. TAP's main appeal is its lucrative and prime slots that connect its Lisbon hub with Brazil, Portuguese-speaking African nations and the United States. Pinto Luz stated that the government is "closely" monitoring the crisis in the Middle East after the?closure of Strait of Hormuz. This has caused concerns about jet fuel shortages for European airlines, and resulted in flight cancellations. However, Pinto Luz believed the issue would be resolved "sooner than later".
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Andy Home: Gulf aluminium disruption has ripple effects on the alumina industry.
The Iran war has caused the aluminum market to focus on what's not coming through the Strait of Hormuz. There is a?equally important problem: What is not coming in. Gulf Aluminium smelters depend heavily on alumina imports, an intermediate product between bauxite and metal, for their operations. Six smelters are located in the region, but only two refineries produce alumina. Emirates Global Aluminium (EGA) Al?Taweelah, a plant of Emirates Global Aluminium, was damaged by Iranian missiles. The same reason is causing the smelter to be out of service at the site, and other smelters have reduced their capacity. As shipments are diverted away from the Gulf, this disruption will have a first-round effect on the alumina markets that is already saturated. Second-round effects could include further reductions in Gulf metal production, as smelters are running low on raw materials. China is the only one who wins here, as it absorbs all of the displaced aluminum. Under Pressure Even before the start of the Iran war, the alumina market was already under pressure. Since the beginning of this year, the London Metal Exchange price (LME), which is based on S&P Global Platts’ assessment of the Australian FOB price, has hovered around $300 per metric tonne. This is a far cry compared to the wild rally in 2024 when prices soared above $800 after a series supply shocks. Since then, the market has shifted from a shortage to a surplus due to the continued expansion of production capacity in China?and Indonesia. Macquarie Bank estimated the global surplus to be 2.54 million tonnes last year, and forecasted a surplus of 1,26 million tons by 2026. The bank just increased its estimate of 2026 oversupply to 2.2 million tonnes as Gulf-bound shipments were redirected onto the seaborne market. The length of time the Strait is closed to shipping will be a determining factor. INPUT RISKS The more time it takes for the Strait to be reopened, the higher the risk that?further cuts will be announced to those already made by Qatar's Qatalum producer and Aluminium Bahrain. Ma'aden in Saudi Arabia is the only fully integrated Gulf producer. It operates its own bauxite mining operation, feeding Ras Al Khair alumina refining plant. According to Wood Mackenzie, Ma'aden has arranged emergency supplies for others and produces more alumina that its smelter can use. Alumina isn't the only problem for Gulf operators. According to AZ Global Consulting, the logistical problems could be even worse for coal tar pitch which is used to make the carbon anodes that are used in the smelting processes. It said that while other carbon inputs, such as calcined coal and petroleum coke, can be "diverted or?stockpiled and rebagged and trucked," liquid pitch needs heated storage, heated trucks, and heated silos to keep it molten between the loading point and discharge point. These facilities are rare and difficult to improvise. "Pitch could be the most difficult logistical problem in 'the carbon chain' if disruptions continue," AZ Global stated. CHINA WINS China is the main beneficiary of the disruption to the alumina processing chain. According to the World Bureau of Metal Statistics which gathers data from customs statistics, it imported 338.315 tonnes?of aluminum in March. This is the highest monthly total since January 2024. AZ Global anticipates that imports will remain strong in the months to come, thanks to an open import arbitrage between local and international prices. China's smelters have been able to enjoy strong margins as the Gulf Crisis has also sent aluminium prices up to four-year levels. According to the International Aluminium Institute, Western production in March fell by 312,000 tons on an annualised basis due to restrictions in the Gulf while Chinese production increased by 88,000 tonnes. China's share in global production grew to a record 60.2% in the last month. This ratio is expected to continue to rise as the Iran War takes its toll on Gulf smelters. Andy Home is a columnist at. This column is great! Open Interest (ROI) is your new essential source of global financial commentary. Follow ROI on LinkedIn and X. Listen to the Morning Bid podcast daily on Apple, Spotify or the app. Subscribe to the Morning Bid podcast and hear journalists discussing the latest news in finance and markets seven days a weeks.
Sources say that the Russian ESPO premiums are easing due to weak Chinese refining margins
Three trading sources have told? that spot premiums for Russia’s Far East ESPO blend crude oil delivered to China in Junehave eased due to weak refining margins.
Sources said that ESPO Blend cargoes for June delivery were trading at $5 - $6 per barrel over ICE Brent, on a delivered basis, into Chinese ports. This compares to premiums of $8 per barrel in May. The premiums are dependent on the supplier and shipment conditions, but traders have noted a weaker demand.
The drop in prices came despite a stronger global demand for Russian crude since early March, after the Iran War severely disrupted Middle East exports. This pushed premiums for Russian Crude to record highs. The decision by Washington to temporarily waive sanctions against Russian oil at sea also helped support prices.
Traders have confirmed that the waiver is not applicable to ESPO Blend 'cargoes for June delivery as it only applies to shipments loaded prior April '17. The ESPO cargoes scheduled for June delivery to?China are expected be loaded during the second half or June.
The easing in ESPO premiums demonstrates the importance of Chinese market demand, which is the main market for the grade, in price formation.
One source reported that a weaker buying interest in China pushed ESPO's prices below the price of another important Russian grade,?Urals. This grade was offered with a premium of $7 to $8 per barrel.
Urals is usually discounted because it has a higher density and lower sulphur than ESPO. Indian refiners prefer Urals because it yields more diesel and has a smaller shipping distance, traders say.
One trader stated that India has increased Urals purchases and created a hot'market' for the grade. ESPO, on the other hand, is less in demand.
One source claimed that Urals usually?reaches China when India rejects cargoes.
The source stated that "Chinese refining companies hold more inventories of feedstock than Indian refineries, and they can wait until global prices soften to buy." Reporting by Siyi Liu and Florence Tan in Singapore, and editing by Florence Tan and Louise Heavens.
(source: Reuters)